450mm Back from the Dead? The Ultimate Wafer may Help Solutions from an Unlikely Place In the last article, the evolution of the crystal pulling methods was analyzed, and there presented was the promise of a new method that would continue the improvement over the continuous CZ, fed wi

In Albany, New York, G450C members and suppliers are gathering. Plans on 450mm R&D from Europe are likewise being announced. With all of this industry cooperation, how does a chipmaker differentiate on 450mm? The big levers driving cost-benefit, namely lithography and wafer size (

Editor’s Note: The proposed agreement we’ve seen for continued participation in the second phase of the G450C consortium, which has an additional combined investment of $3.3B, requires each partner to build a 450mm fab in New York State if they are going to build one anywh

300 Prime Face it, 300mm Prime didn’t really happen. The industry, as a whole, had a chance to optimize 300mm fabs for cycle time and productivity, and maximize the investment. There was particular benefit available for high-product-mix manufacturers. Instead, 300mm Prime became Nex

I was wrong on 450mm. But first, a caveat. When speaking out on the subject in 2007, I wasn’t necessarily wrong. Nor in 2008, 2009, or even in 2010, though there were some signs my position was weakening. 2011? I was busy marketing a book. (Shameless plug… buy “Dormant Curse”.) By 201

450mm Schedule By all appearances, 450mm, an industry disruption, is now on track. In recent announcements, Intel effectively decoupled EUVL from 10nm, which allows the 2018, 450mm target date to stand intact regardless of any EUV slip. If EUV is delayed to 7nm, there’s still a 450mm

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has made public what many in the industry have known for some time: Don’t expect 450mm until 2018. In an article in the Taiwan Times, TSMC’s technology roadmap is discussed, which now includes 10nm transistors on 450mm in 2018 (hi

A sign that 450mm is very serious is Intel’s investment in ASML. Suppliers have stated all along that if the big chipmakers want suppliers to follow their lead, they must truly lead. Lithography equipment is likely the most critical tool in the fab for 450mm. There have been co